All of this talk and rhetoric about last night’s O’s/Twins debacle at Lake Camden Yards — “it shouldn’t have been played” — “the Twins are just mad they lost” — “it’s MLB’s fault, not the O’s” makes me wonder if people out there are completely out of touch with reality.

The Orioles wanted the game to be played for ONE reason and one reason only and it wasn’t to make sure Nick Markakis’ home run held up in the stats or that Brian Bass got credit for the win on the mound.

Last night’s soggy fiasco was about this:

M-O-N-E-Y.

As in, “rain check”.

Had Wednesday’s downpour affair been called in the 2nd inning, as it should have been, the teams would have likely played a doubleheader today.

Do you know what that means?

Sure you do.

It means “two games for the price of one”.

Folks who attended last night could have returned today to watch the Thursday thriller with the other 11,000 who will be there tonight – wet, I’m sure – and wouldn’t have to fork over any cash to see it.

And anyone holding a ticket to last night’s game with an ounce of common sense probably stayed home. Well, if they did, that ticket is now of no value to them since the game was “official” at midnight. If Wednesday’s game doesn’t happen or gets called at the 2-inning mark, the smart folks who DIDN’T go would be able to go today to see Wednesday and Thursday action all crammed into one exciting 8-hour period.

Two games for the price of one.

By just simply saying, “The game was official…you got your baseball money’s worth”, the O’s don’t have to give away a complimentary ticket to a future game that said customer might actually purchase.

Folks were inconvienced on Wednesday night and the right thing to do today would be to give everyone another game later on in the season.

That, I’m sure — according to the O’s — is bad business.

Can’t you hear the phone call last night at 9:30?

“Andy, Pete’s on the phone.”

“Thanks, Greg.”

“Good evening, Mr. A.”

“How are you, Andrew? What’s the story down there?”

“Looks pretty bleak Mr. A…probably gonna have to pack it in for the night and play two on Thursday.”

“Wait a second…what’s the gate tonight?”

“We sold about 13,000 seats. There’s maybe 5,000 here right now. It’s awfully damp. You know, it is the cold and flu season.”

“Andrew, we need to at least have the Twins complete the top of the 5th inning, especially since we’re winning…we ARE still winning, right? You see to it that we get that far, OK? Bringing these folks back again tomorrow for free isn’t going to help us.”

“Mr. A, it’s pouring cats and dogs right now. People are leaving in large numbers. A few knuckleheads are still hanging around but it’s a ghost-town here. And the radar looks bad.”

“Radar-schmaydar…get this game done.”

If that’s NOT what happened last night, here’s how the Orioles can prove it wasn’t “their call”.

Give everyone who had a ticket for last night’s game a freebie to another game this year.

It’s that simple.

The team is already giving away free tickets on your birthday…what’s one more comp ticket in 2009?

It might have been MLB’s fault last night. That’s entirely possible.

Somehow, though, I doubt it. You think the umpiring crew liked standing out there getting soaked when the Bookmaker Salad at Sab’s was waiting for their 10:30 pm arrival?

No, this was likely created by the fight for the all-mighty fan dollar.

“Who cares if people get wet? Don’t they own raincoats and umbrellas?”

If the Orioles are truly fan-friendly, as they say they are, this one is an absolute NO-BRAINER. This is yet another opportunity for the Birds to show everyone they’re really doing things differently in The Warehouse.

If it wasn’t about money, the O’s should just hand over a free ticket to anyone presenting their ticket stub from last night’s embarrassment.